"Oh, to own the castle of Charmerace and call oneself Mlle. Gournay-
Martin--it's not worth doing. One MUST become a duchess," said
Jeanne.

"Yes, yes; and for all this wonderful constancy, seven years of it,
Germaine was on the point of becoming engaged to another man," said
Marie, smiling.

"And he a mere baron," said Jeanne, laughing.

"What? Is that true?" said Sonia.

"Didn't you know, Mlle. Kritchnoff? She nearly became engaged to the
Duke's cousin, the Baron de Relzieres. It was not nearly so grand."

"Oh, it's all very well to laugh at me; but being the cousin and
heir of the Duke, Relzieres would have assumed the title, and I
should have been Duchess just the same," said Germaine triumphantly.

"Evidently that was all that mattered," said Jeanne. "Well, dear, I
must be off. We've promised to run in to see the Comtesse de
Grosjean. You know the Comtesse de Grosjean?"

She spoke with an air of careless pride, and rose to go.

"Only by name. Papa used to know her husband on the Stock Exchange
when he was still called simply M. Grosjean. For his part, papa
preferred to keep his name intact," said Germaine, with quiet pride.

"Intact? That's one way of looking at it. Well, then, I'll see you